Soul of Shadows
__NOEDITSECTION__ Prologue Deep underground in the Mudwing hillscape, a figure subserviently slunk up to a hulking Mudwing on a makeshift throne. He stopped at the foot of the seat and waited for him to address him. A rustle and a pause as the Mudwing studied him. “Starseeker,” he growled, “I assume you’re here because you saw something.” The figure, a Nightwing in shadow, nodded quietly. “Well don’t just sit there,” the Mudwing roared. The Nightwing squeaked in fear and backed away, then whispered, “Your plan will work, King Iron. You will dethrone Moorhen, but be warned: a Lightwing and a Tempestwing will stop you if you take the Skywings or Sandwings.” Iron growled and said coldly, “Get Windshear.” Chapter 1 Maruku Today was going to be a great day. Maruku caught a boar, something uncommon in the outskirts of the woodlands, him and Magnus are going to spar later on, then they’ll go hunting during the sunset. It couldn’t be any better than that, honestly. Maruku pushed off of the treetop he was currently in and began flying out in the great desert that made up most of the Lightwing territory. He curved to fly parallel to the forest, then caught a jet stream and rocketed forwards to Pollen. I wonder if Magnus is busy working about now, Maruku wondered. Guess I’ll find out when I get there. His facial scales glinted cheerfully in the corners of his eyes, reminding him of his pastime. Haven’t really seen any snotheads around. Guess I scared them off. He did a gleeful flip out of the air current, then dove back in, whooping out loud as he shot forward again. Not much later, the fields of Pollen came into view as well as the busy airspace of the city. Maruku swooped down into the outskirts of the suburbs, then trotted along the river. A young trio of Lightwings were playing by one house right on the river, separated from the rest of the houses by a small oxbow lake. On the other side of the house, tending to a small garden, was a large navy Tempestwing. One of the little ones chucked a rock at another, which sailed straight past the intended target and straight at the Tempestwing. His talon shot out from nowhere and caught the rock, earning a scared silence from the dragonets. Without looking up, he rumbled, “Now what did I say about throwing things?” The dragonet who threw the rock was shoved up by the other two, who shuffled his feet and mumbled, “To not do that. Sorry, Mag-us.” He smirked at them and noticed Maruku watching the event. “Kids, huh,” Magnus chuckled. “You tell them one thing and they do the exact opposite of that.” Maruku grinned and hopped over the lake, startling the dragonets. “Good to see you again, Magnus,” he chirped. “Started to worry you lost interest in my attacks.” Maruku liked to think of himself as the one who evened the score between the rich and the lowlifes. The rich didn’t need that elaborate mansion, so would it be all that terrible if he set a tiny portion of the roof on fire? If he was lucky, the idiot owner of the mansion leaves in a panic, which he then exploits by taking only a margin of the most expensive things in the house and selling it, which then went straight to the abused and malnourished of that town. Technically, what he does is a good thing, yet the Circle makes such a big fuss over the dumb thing, saying ‘You can’t do that, it’s baaaad!’ Magnus sighed and said, “I have been busy, Marx. As much as I would love taking your sorry tail down, there seems to be a number of reports on attacks along the border. Some witnesses say it’s a gang of Mudwings; what they’re doing this far out is odd though. I got about fifty dragons offering a reward if I find these guys.” Maruku frowned, his wings dropping slightly. “So does this mean we’re not gonna hang tonight?” “No. I feel like I am getting close. Last time, I was able to prevent another attack. This time, I should be able to catch the ones doing the attacks.” Maruku frowned slightly, then picked himself up as an idea crawled into his brain. “What if I come help,” he offered. “You said they’re attacking Lightwings? I can be bait. I can defend myself, too!” Magnus went to shoot down the idea, then paused and thought about it. “You know, that is not a terrible idea. Quick thinking, Marx,” he said. Maruku grinned and took off, the two dragons flying to trap some Mudwings. Starseeker Starseeker sat quivering by Iron’s throne, waiting for him to come back to reality. His working eye was fogged over, making it look like he had two iron eyes instead of just the one. The iron eye allowed the Mudwing to look through any dragon’s eyes, as long as he knew their name. The eye cleared, then rotated to pin down the shaking Nightwing seer. “They took the bait,” he growled. “Who will be the likeliest to stop the Tempestwing out of our troops?” Starseeker’s mind began to whirl as possibilities of futures unraveled in front of him. “I see... Fennex. Fennex the Sandwing,” he whispered. “Fennex is strong. And... Windshear must be there.” Iron grabbed Starseeker by the neck and wrenched him forward, hissing, “Yesterday, you said that Windshear would enchant the Lightwing from afar. You said his instability would kill the troop.” The Nightwing only wheezed and pitifully clawed at Iron’s talons crushing his neck. Iron roared and threw him down the hall, screaming, “Once I give the word, initiate the enchantment! Maruku will be his own downfall!” Chapter 2 Magnus The two dragons flew over the canopy of the forest, the setting sun warming their underbellies. Magnus’s brain was buzzing with thought: The attacks happen to lone Lightwings, making Marx the perfect bait. I can position him just outside the tree line while I wait in the canopy. I made sure to fully charge, so I can empty it all on the leader, then threaten the others at swordpoint. Hopefully, this was all one small group and not a bigger organization. Magnus looked over at Maruku, who was quiet the whole flight. “You okay, Marx,” he inquired. “You’ve been really quiet. Usually you’re chatting up a storm.” Maruku flashed a smile at him and replied, “Just thinking. No big deal.” Magnus frowned slightly. Something is definitely wrong. “Are you sad that we’re not hunting,” Magnus probed. Maruku shot him a glare and swiftly replied, “No.” Magnus opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. After a tense silence, the Lightwing sighed. “Look, I’m nervous,” he began. “I’m fine fighting you ‘cause you only got a sword and a shock. Mudwings... They got firebreath and stuff. Lightwings are virtually useless in a real battle and...” Maruku trailed off, letting Magnus imply the ending. “You’re afraid of getting hurt,” Magnus finished. Maruku nodded, confirming his statement. A tumult of emotion bubbled in Magnus’s chest as he flew; he loathed it when he felt this way. Stop it, Magnus. We are acquaintances at most. You do not like him. He clenched his jaw and stared straight ahead at the rising moons. ~*~*~ They got to the border when the sun slid past the horizon. Magnus stayed in the trees, blending into the night seamlessly, while Maruku wandered the small clearing, acting like he was hunting. The Tempestwing got into position on a tallish tree, then waited for the Mudwings. He could see Maruku looking at the tree line, trying to find him, but he never did. That’s good, he thought. Means the Mudwings won’t see me. A rustle below him wrenched Magnus’s attention off of the clearing as three burly Mudwings slinked through the underbrush. Maruku seemed to hear it too; his ears shot up, but he made no motion of recognition. The Mudwings paused on the outskirts of the forest to assess their Lightwing victim, and Magnus made his move. He launched himself at the nearest Mudwing as they launched at Maruku, bashed him on the head with the butt of his shortsword, and sprinted towards the three snarling dragons in the clearing. Maruku, he saw, was attached to one Mudwing’s back, beating at his face with his mirror-plated wings(Magnus knew from experience that getting hit by those stung like a wasp), so the Tempestwing barreled towards the other advancing Mudwing. A bolt of fire flew by his head, making Magnus duck to one side of the Mudwing. As he turned to attack, a brand on the Mudwing’s shoulder made him freeze in shock. Two parallel curved lines with a line in the middle glared up at Magnus, then it vanished as the Mudwing clubbed him on his helmet. He growled and grabbed the Mudwing’s neck, delivering all of his electricity into the one dragon. He yowled a roar of pain as he was blasted off of Magnus and eventually incapacitated. Looking over at Maruku, the Tempestwing saw that he somehow subdued one Mudwing and was viciously latching his claws onto his attacker. Magnus ran over and tackled the Mudwing, throwing Maruku off and slamming the attacker’s head into a nearby tree trunk. The Lightwing sighed a breath of relief, then his eyes widened in panic as he shouted, “Magnus, look out!” Something cracked into the Tempestwing’s skull, bringing the world out of focus and spinning horribly. He was able to see Maruku leap towards him, but then drop to the floor and thrash around like a dragonbite viper bit him, screaming in agony. Someone behind him hissed, “The spell is in effect! Get the prisoner and retreat!” Then the world went dark. Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon) Category:Content (Aryafire1) Category:Fanfictions